7 Ways To Create An Amazing Startup Vision

When I am looking to set up interviews, I try to think of people who have come from nowhere and created something truly amazing. With that said, I thought I would interview Mat Jacobson, the founder of the Global Education Company, Ducere. The vision of Ducere is working directly with global leaders on topics they are experts in, to deliver a formal education. What makes Duceretruly unique is that they have been able attract some of the best leaders on the planet including five Australian Prime Ministers, two Canadian Prime Ministers, Heads of State from Europe, Asia and Africa, Nobel Prize winners, Oxford and Harvard professors and the list goes on and on.

Mat is very inspiring to talk with and is always looking for ways to help the entrepreneur community. He thinks big by nature and is not afraid to share his opinion about what needs to change in the entrepreneurial education system. I get the feeling that Mat see’s entrepreneurship as a way to solve many of the world’s problems and using trusted, global leaders to deliver that message is one way he can have a major impact on the outcome.

It was important when Mat created Ducere that philanthropy was embedded into the business and wasn’t a case of if they make money they would write out a cheque to charity when they could afford to. There are two companies that make up Ducere, one is the academic arm, and the other is the Ducere Foundation. Part of the profits of Ducere Education go to fund the Ducere Foundation. Ducere doesn’t donate money to third parties, they create programs in Africa with their philanthropic arm through education programs that are now in 12 countries. This business model is quite unique and has helped create a vision that has attracted the types of global leaders they have onboard.

***Spending Time With Bill Clinton***

Ducere is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative where they partner together on a publishing program for Africa. Mat had the chance to speak with Bill Clinton a number of times.

Mat says that Bill just has a genuine interest in the projects they are involved in so when you speak to someone of his stature, you might think they are aloof or politely nodding their head, but with Bill Clinton he is 100% engaged in the conversation with eye contact the whole time and listening very carefully to what you’re saying. He will then ask very good questions and give his opinion on how you can take your vision a step further. Bill gave advice to Mat on the politics of Africa, where the Ducere programs should be based and people they should work with like Sir Ketumile Masire. Having someone like Bill Clinton for Mat to bounce ideas off was an invaluable experience and just demonstrates how the Ducere vision has successfully captivated everyone.

Left: Bill Clinton Right: Mat Jacobson (Ducere Founder)

Later this year Ducere will be rolling out four bachelor degree’s with applied qualifications and coursework directly tied into real-life business projects.

After my interview with Mat I thought I would share with you his top seven ways to create an amazing vision for your startup.

1. Attract the best leaders to your startup

Having said that, you still have to get in front of someone to communicate your idea. This can only be done by having people around you that have great networks and connections. To get great leaders, Mat said it’s usually done through an introduction or via someone who knows about their work – it’s always one or two degree’s of separation. A method that you should avoid is sending a letter that says “Dear Sir we would like to introduce ourselves to you.” To be successful in attracting global leaders, you need to create a trusted environment that they will gravitate to more than anything else.

2. Decide if you’re startup should have a global vision

It’s just a question of how far do you want to expand the activities you are involved in. If you’re an organisation that operates in one country, and then you take that same product or service to 50 countries, then obviously that’s global. It’s more a question of ambition.

By Ducere doing their philanthropy in African countries, as well as their academic programs in first world countries, they have become global by nature. Another example might be if you create an interesting platform for transport that helps people, such as Uber, that could equally apply in one country and the founders might be happy generating revenue, on the other hand if it’s a product or service that is really popular, maybe it could be spread to more than fifty countries. It comes back again to ambition and not so much whether a product or service is limited to one or more countries

3. Reframe your prior failed visions

In order to create an amazing vision, you need to be able to reframe your prior failed visions and be able to use the lessons to help create your new vision for your startup. Of course, things don’t always work out as planned. There a lot of things that don’t go the way you intend, especially in a startup environment.

The problem with the word failure is that it has a very negative connotation. Mat believes we should use a more scientific type of terminology like experimentation or trial and error. This terminology is really the way startup and entrepreneurial businesses operate. It’s not a question of success or failure it’s a question of how quickly can you move, adapt shift to create a successful outcome. That’s the case with any organisation that you can point to. No company in the world has a 50-page business plan on day one that ten years down the track they can look back on and say “that’s exactly what we intended to do.”

Look at the genesis of Facebook, what it does today is completely different to what it started out as in its first version a number of years ago. If you look at Google and what the plan, idea and vision of was when it first started, it certainly wasn’t self-driving cars. Even when we can point to a business that is successful, it’s still constantly about adaptation and evolving in order for that business to stay in the same successful position. Mat believes we should talk more about experimentation because in an experimental environment it’s very normal for things to be cut-off, modified, focused more on a different area and to go off on tangents.

Failure is such a negative word and people don’t like to be associated with it, which is perhaps why in the western world we have such a risk adverse culture. Trial and error, and experimenting until a business model succeeds is far more palatable.

4. Take the Steve Jobs approach – simplify and focus

How do you balance opportunity with focus? There are always lots of opportunities out there. People overestimate the value of ideas, and they underestimate the value of implementation. People talk about the idea and vision to a great extent, but this is only one component.

Founder of Ducere Mat Jacobson

There are lots of people that have interesting ideas, but there are far fewer people who can actually execute that vision into a successful, global organisation. It’s about the execution and for Mat that’s the balance between lots of ideas and focus. There are constantly more ideas than the amount of focus you can have to successfully implement those ideas within your startup. It needs to be about having a good sense of core value and being the best at something rather than doing lots of things poorly.

In Ducere’s case, education is a huge space. They implemented this idea of simplification by narrowing down their focus to a business school rather than teaching all the broader areas that a typical business faculty in a university would offer such as bookkeeping. This allows them to leverage off their unique skill of business programs that can utilise global leaders in the areas of entrepreneurship, leadership and management.

Your startup needs to look constantly at the core focus you are trying to achieve and make sure it is relevant to everything you do. Don’t just implement something because it sounds like a good idea or financial opportunity, if it doesn’t meet your core focus.

5. You need lots of diverse thinking, interactions and experiences

If you work in the airline industry, you would typically go to airline industry conferences and deal with people in your industry. If Mat was in the banking industry and wanted to come up with something novel, he would spend time trying to understand how the airline industry works. On one hand, the airline industry has nothing to do with banking but that’s where opportunities for innovation arise. It allows you to see something totally unique and different, and then you start thinking to yourself, how can I use what I have learnt from the airline industry in banking.

A classic example of this was when the founder of Ikea went on holidays to New York to visit the Guggenheim. Most people would wonder what visiting a museum has got to do with a furniture business. When he was in the Guggenheim, he had to follow a set path through the different attractions. This experience he had while on holidays became the impetus for the now famous IKEA model of a structured pathway through their stores, ensuring customers have to walk past every product.

Another important component of creating a vision is being in an environment where you can have headspace and think clearly. A holiday is a perfect example of this and often you can think that a holiday is to get away from work. What a holiday does is to allow you to think outside of the hustle and bustle, the hundreds of emails / meetings and phone calls where it’s very difficult to think innovatively, and completely change your environment.

Mat does his best work often when he is on holidays or an aeroplane where he can’t be interrupted. The idea for Ducere came to him when he was in holidays in Bali, in a pool, thinking about what he wanted to do to start up his new education business. He already had a few things like philanthropy, education qualifications, and leaders in his head and these began to link together while in Bali.

6. Stay focused on your vision

True entrepreneurs are typically not very disciplined or organised people; they are more the creative type. Mat says that it’s very easy for him to stay inspired because he has created a business that allows this process to occur naturally. Their programs in Africa are world-leading initiatives to improve education and then in their academic side they are working with the most inspiring leaders from all over the world. This makes it very difficult for Mat to not be inspired. If you embed these types of things into your startup, you too can achieve the same inspirational results.

“An entrepreneur is almost like an artistic equivalent but in a business environment”

Mat applied the concept of staying focused by only allowing Ducere to partner with not for profit, public institutions because he saw that they had the right focus, which is on skills and quality outcomes. Mat found that the focus in education is not necessarily the same for “for-profit” education institutions. Public education institutions typically aren’t the most nimble or entrepreneurial but that’s why the partnership works so well because Ducere’s thinking is totally different and much less traditional.

At the same time, these institutions bring a very different level of process, rigor and compliance that is non-typical for a fast moving, innovative, startup company. Sometimes these two sets of strengths that both organisations have can bring operational challenges but if the end goal is aligned, you can work out the detail. As long as you have a vision with your partners of where you want to go ultimately everything else can be figured out.

7. Execute your vision in line with the fundamentals

Be outcome focused. It’s not about sitting in a room and pitching to investors about a concept or idea. Ultimately it’s the customers who decide whether a business is successful or not. If customers buy your product or service, this single ingredient will determine whether your startup is successful. You need to refine your business model around the customer through speaking with customers and doing focus groups. Often the reverse happens. People go out and think about their startup, product or development and then go out to customers and say this is what we have

Be very clear about the niche focus of the organisation because it’s very easy to take on too many opportunities as opposed to saying “no that’s not our core business.” It’s harder to say no than yes.

When it comes down to executing your vision make sure you do so in the biggest and most exciting way possible because that’s what get’s people on board. No one is interested in who came seventh in an Olympic race. On one measure coming seventh in the Olympics is unbelievable because out of billions of people in the world that person was the seventh fastest. The reality is no one cares or remembers who came seventh. People care about who is the most successful and came first. You need to be thinking about what you can be successful at and be number one in, and then create a bold vision around that.

Lessons from Africa

Mat loves spending time in Africa, and one of the things that was surprising to him is the culture and the positive attitude of the people. When you think about going into a place that is the poorest area in the world where they don’t have running water, earn less than $200 USD a year and have schools that have no libraries you would expect these people to be very disgruntled.

What’s amazing is that you find the opposite. Kids in schools in these areas have such a positive attitude, a desire to learn and such an appreciation for any opportunity they have. It makes you feel how complacent we are in some western countries where kids can take a lot for granted and run a muck or be disruptive in class instead of appreciating how incredibly valuable the opportunity of a good education is. In Africa, it’s the opposite, if you give a child a book to own for the first time, you can just see the gratitude and value they have.

Just by providing some of the basic necessities people need, you can achieve amazing things quite quickly because of their willingness to learn.

Final advice from Mat Jacobson

Work on the most exciting thing that you can possibly work on. Only work with people that you enjoy working with and that you trust in. If you have the passion and work hard then you can do absolutely anything and can change the world by working on something exciting, and working with people who share your vision, and believe in you.

14th-century scholar Maimonides, “The highest form of charity one can give is to give someone a livelihood, so they needn’t rely on charity“

If you’re looking for a global education provider that tailor entrepreneurial courses around amazing global leaders and real world projects, then head over to Ducere’s website to find out more at www.ducere.co

Tim is best known as a long-time contributor on Addicted2Success. Tim's content has been shared hundreds of thousands of times and he has written multiple viral posts all around success, personal development, motivation, and entrepreneurship. During the day Tim works with the most iconic tech companies in the world, as an adviser, to assist them in expanding into Australia. By night, Tim coaches his students on the principles of personal development and the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. You can connect with Tim through his website www.timdenning.net or through his Facebook.

7 Ways to Succeed at Running a Remote Start Up

Working environments have changed. The 9-5 day born out of the early fifties is no longer so rigid or necessary. Technology has paved the way for the remote worker – those who do their job from a location other than an official company base.

I run noCRM.io, a company of 11 people split across three continents, five countries and eight cities. It started with a regular, office-based structure before moving to a remote company. There are many nuances involved in creating a remote startup but, if done correctly, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Here are some of the fundamentals of what we have learned during the transition from an office-based location to remote working:

1. Get Pro-Tech-ted

The primary enabler for a remote company is technology. Video Conferencing, collaborative cloud-based SaaS (software as a service), and other web-based tools have removed the importance of an official on-site premises. You can now conduct hours of video conferences around the world for free.

But which tech should you look to implement? The type of business must to be taken into account. Skype and Google Hangouts are the most used video-calling methods, while Slack is the go-to platform for messaging. When it comes to project management, Trello and Asana, two web-based tools, top the list for many.

Even social platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp can act as communication tools and are popular with some companies. The main aspect is to find solutions that work across the team, so everyone is happy to use them.

2. It’s Good to Talk

A crucial aspect of a successful remote startup is communication. There should be a centralized system in place where staff talk to each other. For some that consists of using emails, but the back and forth, along with multiple recipients, can make following trails confusing.

Some companies – especially tech-based ones – create their own internal communications systems for staff to communicate. For others, this is where free message software like Slack shows its worth.

Being remote can lend itself to going long hours without any interaction with peers. At the start of each day, we make sure each member of the company lists three objectives they’re working on for the day. They don’t have to be significant tasks, but it’s a way for everyone to feel included and keep up to date with assignments people are working on.

“Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh

3. A Leap of Faith

Finding the right people to work remotely affords a greater opportunity to cherry pick the best talent from all over the world. The interviewing process should take place with an element of caution, however.

Building an understanding with job prospects is harder through video and phone calls. Applicants might have a great resume, but that is only one part of the process. Remote workers need to be competent self-starters.

Be even more thorough than usual when interviewing. Make sure every detail is covered, and no stones are left unturned. Explore the idea of having several video calls with the same candidate before making a final decision.

It’s impossible to be 100 percent sure about a hire even when interviews take place face to face. Nonetheless, remote interviews require a more rigorous process. If something doesn’t feel right, go with your instinct.

Putting more effort into the hiring process has better long-term effects. When you find remote staff that fit the bill, they will take up less of your time. Trust is vital. Once you have it, you can depend on them to use their own initiative.

4. Time Zone Tribulations

While having access to the best staff members from around the world is a bonus, time differences can be problematic. How much of an issue they cause comes down to the type of work your company does and where you are based.

For example, if you are in the US, hiring someone from Australia – where there can be a 16-hour time difference – might not be a good idea. Unless it’s a specific role where regular communication isn’t necessary.

Navigating such a substantial difference in time zones certainly isn’t impossible. But you should weigh up the quality of the candidate in comparison to how much live interaction there will be with them.

5. Let’s Get Physical

While there are many benefits of working remotely, it’s still good practice to get the whole team together at least once a year. An annual meet up (Workation) to talk about strategy and moving forward can re-energize the whole team.

Everybody has the chance to meet in person at least once, which is good for relationship building. Most companies conduct some form of team bonding, and this is a good way to get people together even with remote working as your core structure.

Of course, there are factors to take into consideration, like budgets and logistics. However, bringing the team together at least once a year can help add a new dynamic to the company.

6. Have the Options

Ok, so this isn’t imperative to running a remote startup, but sometimes it’s nice to divide your time between remote structures and an office environment. That doesn’t mean you have to take the plunge and hire a full-time office.

Startup platforms like TechHub have popped up across the globe to offer entrepreneurs a chance to work out of an office at reduced costs. There are usually several options available, including flexi deals that allow you to work out of their bases for a set amount of hours.

The working environments are shared with other like-minded CEOs and business owners. The chances for networking are high, and the atmosphere is a positive one to dip into if remote working is getting a little bit, well, remote.

“Effective networking isn’t a result of luck – it requires hard work and persistence.” – Lewis Howes

7. Setting Yourself Up for Success

Starting a business presents its fair share of obstacles — and creating a remote startup is no different. Working away from an office still isn’t considered ‘the norm’. But as technology continues to improve, the number of people employed from a location other than an office is likely to rise.

Having a process in place is vital to running a remote business. Work out the structures, set strategies for yourself and your staff, and have a viable way of communicating. Do those things, and it shouldn’t be too long before your remote setup is running smoothly.

Have you ever wanted to work remotely from around the world? If so, what would you do and from where would you work?

Looking for Startup Success? The Best Advice From 5 Successful Startup Founders

Being a startup founder is hard, don’t make it any harder on yourself. You can learn from those who already have a successful startup and follow in their footsteps. Why fail when you can learn from someone else who has already failed? There are numerous startups that fail each year and I don’t want to see yours become another statistic.

The founders mentioned in this article are tried and tested. They have built their own successful startups each in unique ways. There’s never going to be one set way in which you can start your company.

Each founder has a different piece of advice to give you on how they achieved success. If you follow even one of the tips mentioned below, you’re giving your startup a greater chance to succeed.

Here is the best piece of advice from 5 different startup founders:

1. Effort is the ultimate equalizer

Dominic Pratt is the founder of eMINDSCLUB, a startup that’s hoping to pair you with the next Mark Zuckerberg by connecting you with entrepreneurs all around the world. Dominic learned that as a startup founder and in life – effort is the ultimate equalizer. He went on to say that society is idea rich and effort poor. Too many of us want the success but aren’t putting in the required grind to get it. It can be challenging he admits, but at the end of the day what is the alternative?

It can be lonely as an entrepreneur because so few of us get it and there has never really been a support group in place for entrepreneurs. Our friends and family want us to conform to their realities, but reality is a matter of perspective. He reminds us that it doesn’t make you a bad person for wanting more for yourself.

As an entrepreneur, you will feel resentment from your friends and family. Don’t allow this to get to you. At the end of the day, you only have yourself, do what makes you happy and what will allow you to succeed. Never take advice someone you wouldn’t be willing to trade places with.

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

2. Become comfortable with the unkown

Aaron O’Hearn is co-founder of the Startup Institute, a startup that offers courses, and programs that help give people skills, the mindset, and the opportunity to network and build a career they love.

The best piece of advice Aaron could give is to become comfortable with unknown. As an entrepreneur, study all you want but you need to put yourself out there. You can learn from the past but you also need to learn from applying what you’ve learned. The worst thing you can do is attain knowledge and let it go to waste.

You can let the unknown hold you back entirely. Don’t let this be you. Almost everyone who has become successful had to start from somewhere. They were just like us but the difference between them and you is that they took action despite being uncomfortable.

The problem is if you become too comfortable, you’ll think you have it made and lose your edge. Learn to become comfortable with unknown and always be willing to push yourself past your fears.

3. Place a financial wager on yourself

Nathan Chan is the founder of Foundr, a startup that has a highly regarded magazine and app that teaches entrepreneurs how to grow and build their business.

The best of advice Nathan could give a startup founder would be to place a financial wager on yourself. What he means by this is when he first started his company, it required a software that he put on his card for $2,000. This was neither money he had or money he could spend. It put his back against the wall. He had no other option than to succeed.

Depending on the entrepreneur you are, go all in. There are different periods when you can do just that. If you’re twenty-three, then by all means go all in but if you’re forty-five with a family, I’d recommend putting money in your business that forces you to become uncomfortable without putting your entire retirement fund in.

As an entrepreneur, you should thrive when your back is against the wall. Stress can be good when it forces you to put in work for your business. What can you do today that will put your back against a wall and force you to put work into your business?

4. Remember, you’re the one calling the shots

Brent Grima is the founder of EverTrue, a startup that works with schools and colleges to help automate their fundraising efforts. The advice Brent gave was to remember that it’s your company and at the end of the day, you’re the one calling the shots. You can speak to mentors and trusted advisers, but if it feels wrong in your gut, then don’t do it. No one is forcing you to make a decision you don’t want to make.

Sometimes when you’re trying to start a company, you take advice from others but often that advice can become conflicting. People will tell you different price points for your service or different ways to market your service. There’s not enough time to try every single price point or marketing service, pick the price or strategy you believe will give your business the greatest chance to succeed. This is your company, make the decision that best suits you.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs

5. Hire remote employees

Sam Bruce is the co-founder at Much Better Adventures, a startup that helps you book adventurous vacations. When Sam was building his company, he realized the importance of hiring remote employees. You no longer need an office space to connect with your employees. If your employee is full-time, you can do a Skype call with them once per week to make sure they’re doing their work.

When you hire remote employees, you may save money rather than if you had an employee coming into an office. With the money you have save by hiring remote, you can reinvest back into your company. Embrace the nature that you can hire anyone from around the world to work on your company.

Being a startup founder isn’t easy. Don’t make it harder on yourself by not following the above advice.

Share with us below, what advice you would give to someone looking to get into the startup world!

3 Reasons Why It’s a Good Thing Your First Startup Failed

Statistics on business failure are a matter of heated debate. Back in 2014, a study in The Washington Post rubbished the oft-repeated claim that “nine out of ten businesses fail,” saying that it had “no statistical basis.” Even so, a more accurate figure from The Small Business Administration still points to only around half of businesses lasting beyond five years.

As such, there’s still a 50/50 chance that your first startup will fail. If this has happened to you, it’s unlikely to have been a pleasant experience. But does that mean that every bit of the time, money and effort was wasted? Absolutely not. In fact, the value of failing has been discussed on this site before.

As Henry Ford said, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” One thing you can be sure of is that in the wake of a failed start-up, you’ll have a heap of lessons to learn from. Every one of them represents an opportunity to do things better or differently next time and increase the chance of your next business being the one that truly goes the distance.

Here are three big reasons why the failure of your first start-up could prove to have been a blessing:

1. You know which tasks not to expend time and money on

It’s pretty much impossible to get a business off the ground without making some mistakes, especially when it comes to putting time and effort into ideas and activities that don’t move the company forward.

However, it’s easy to forget and write off, for example, a futile Google Ads campaign or a pointless dalliance with Instagram if the business goes on to be a success. However, if the company fails, then these drains on time and money suddenly come into far sharper focus.

This being the case, the chances are you’ll have quite a sizeable “never again” list, even if it’s only stored in your memory. Everything on that list is an opportunity not to make the same mistake again whether it’s a web developer you’ll not be using again or acquired knowledge on which advertising strategies do and don’t work. You have a body of knowledge that’s going to ensure your next venture is leaner, meaner and more focussed.

“You have to work on the business first before it works for you.” – Idowu Koyenikan

2. You know what did go right

Of course (hopefully) you got some stuff right too? This knowledge is equally valuable. One way of looking at it is that your next start-up business can operate like a carefully edited and curated version of the first one.

All the ideas, working practices and promotional avenues that delivered results the first time around are things you can potentially recreate (albeit obviously only where the business similarities are relevant!) What’s more, because you’ve done these things before, they should take you less time the second time around.

There may even be documents, contracts, databases and various other things you can repurpose for your next company. This can result in big savings in both time and money. Just because the business failed doesn’t mean there aren’t considerable resources you still have to show for your initial efforts.

The same applies to the contacts you made and the suppliers and companies you used. That network is still there, and once again it’s now a “curated” network – you know exactly who to work with again, and who to swerve.

3. You’ve learned a valuable lesson in resilience

Gever Tulley is an American writer, TED talk host, and founder of San Francisco’s Brightworks school. He says that “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.”

This is very relevant in start-up businesses. Entrepreneurs who find huge success with their first business actually miss out on a valuable and crucial part of the learning curve, and this can come back to haunt them when there’s an unexpected bump in the road further down the line.

Yes, watching a much-loved business fail can be upsetting and demotivating, but coming out the other side still willing to have another go is undoubtedly a bold and determined move to make. It’s almost inevitable that the process will change you, and will certainly change the way you do things.

But it’s no bad thing to be more sceptical as to the claims companies make when they sell you something, tougher when it comes to price negotiation, or more cynical about the benefits of jumping onto the latest online bandwagon.

The last quote which I shall use to tie this up is from an unknown source, and it says that “the only person you should try to be better than is who you were yesterday.” If you can stick to that rule and use the failure of a business venture to bounce back with humility and determination, it should set you up well for your next attempt.

All the work that went into that “failed” business still has a huge amount of value. So move forward, concentrate on one thing at a time, and you should stand a good chance of success the second time around.

What failed venture are you grateful for in your life? Let us know in the comments below!

3 Powerful Ways to Stay Motivated While Building Your Startup

I hear one particular story being repeated over and over again in the startup world. See if you’ve heard it before. A friend tells me how excited he is about a new business idea. He’s talked to several potential customers who seem really interested, and he’s even contracted folks in the industry to help him build a prototype.

Two months later, I meet with him again. He’s still very excited, working hard at all hours of the day, and he says that they’re actually about to release the prototype. Another 2 or 3 months go by and I check in to ask him how everything is going.

Glumly, he tells me, “Well, we released the prototype to a couple of early adopters, but we didn’t find they were using it on a daily basis.” Or, “We spent like $50 on Facebook ads to spread the word, but nobody signed up.” And on and on it goes.

Just like that, another wantrepreneur’s dreams are crushed. “Maybe this entrepreneurship thing just isn’t for me,” he says. Sound familiar? It happens to all of us. We have that initial burst of excitement and we get super motivated to pursue our business idea, but then when reality hits and things don’t go as planned, we lose that spark and our motivation hits rock bottom.

People don’t realize that building a startup is like a roller coaster – one day you’re on top of the world and the next you’re having the worst day ever. Motivation is like the fuel in your car, when you run out, your company stalls and comes to a complete stop.

People always ask me how I maintain my motivation throughout the ups and downs of startup life. Like any other positive habit, you have to train yourself and you need a few techniques in your back pocket to help you get out of that rut when you (inevitably) fall into it.

Here are a few things that have helped me stay motivated while building my business:

1. Listen to or Read Something Motivational Each Day

This is actually one of my main sources of motivation. Every day, I listen to an entrepreneurship podcast and learn something new.

When you hear an interview with a successful founder, and he says he wakes up every day at 4AM to spend 2 hours writing a chapter of his book before heading into work, it makes you think “Wow! I thought I was working hard!”

I’ll listen to an owner talk about how he lost everything and managed to bring himself back from ruins. That kind of story can motivate anybody to push through the rough times in their own life and business endeavors.

When I hear these types of inspirational interviews during my morning walk, I go home eager to start work for the day!

“Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.” – Ryan Freitas

2. Have a Learning Mindset

No matter how excited you are about your startup idea, remember that it’s a learning experience. A year from now, you may end up developing something totally different based on feedback you get from customers. If your first prototype doesn’t get the traction or results you were hoping for, then learn why that is.

Did it not solve the customer’s pain point? Were you solving the wrong problem? Call up the users and ask them why are they’re not using or buying your product! Brice McBeth in his book ‘Salon Chairs Don’t Sell Themselves’, shares his experience with the launch of an e-commerce website that he was trying to promote.

He found that potential customers were just not signing up, even though his team built a visually stunning website. It wasn’t until after he called several customers that he learned they felt the website looked too fancy for them.

They weren’t signing up because they thought the product was too expensive even though they hadn’t even looked at the pricing page. They based their assumption purely on the landing page. He changed the website and the product took off. So don’t get discouraged if your first launch fails. Go out and ask for feedback and correct your mistakes!

3. Sign Up Real Customers

The biggest motivating factor for me so far has been signing up our startup’s first real customers. Not a friend and not someone I met at a networking event who was doing me a favor. A complete stranger who found us on the web and wanted to sign up because she was interested in the product.

When I talked to this customer on the phone, she had no idea we were a startup in the beta stage. She was an office manager of a landscape and lawn service company who was looking for a time tracking software. Having a “real” customer using our application and depending on us to process payroll was a huge responsibility, but it was also motivation for us because we didn’t want to let a customer down.

I’ve found the wantrepreneurs of the world are a little intimidated by the important step of accumulating real customers. When beta customers sign up, they expect to have some issues with the product or software, but when a real, expectant, interested customer signs up and hands over their hard-earned money, it’s a whole different ball game.

But don’t be intimidated! The key is providing excellent customer service. Then your customers will stay with you even if your product is basic and buggy, because they know you will fix it and take care of them down the road. Trust me, waking up every morning knowing people are depending on you is the biggest motivation of all!

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” – Thomas Edison

Maintaining motivation while you’re working on your startup, especially at the beginning, is like anything else important in your life – you have to work at it! Listen to or read something inspirational every day, maintain the mindset that everything is a learning experience, and take that plunge to find real customers.

Then, use your system to be accountable for your work and provide great service, and you’ll discover the motivation to move forward even in the toughest of times.

How do you stay motivated while building your startup or running your business? Comment below!

Trying to Build Charisma? Pay Attention to How You Speak

Have you ever listened to yourself talking and said how on earth do I sound that terrible? Most of us don`t realize they have voice issues until we accidentally listen to our voice or seek professional help. But the truth is, 38 percent of your charisma comes from the way you talk.(more…)

Marwan Jamal is a fitness and health blogger at healthline.com. He’s a great fan of the gym and a healthy diet. He follows the trends in fitness, gym, and healthy life and loves to share his knowledge through useful and informative articles.

7 Ways to Succeed at Running a Remote Start Up

Working environments have changed. The 9-5 day born out of the early fifties is no longer so rigid or necessary. Technology has paved the way for the remote worker – those who do their job from a location other than an official company base.

I run noCRM.io, a company of 11 people split across three continents, five countries and eight cities. It started with a regular, office-based structure before moving to a remote company. There are many nuances involved in creating a remote startup but, if done correctly, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Here are some of the fundamentals of what we have learned during the transition from an office-based location to remote working:

1. Get Pro-Tech-ted

The primary enabler for a remote company is technology. Video Conferencing, collaborative cloud-based SaaS (software as a service), and other web-based tools have removed the importance of an official on-site premises. You can now conduct hours of video conferences around the world for free.

But which tech should you look to implement? The type of business must to be taken into account. Skype and Google Hangouts are the most used video-calling methods, while Slack is the go-to platform for messaging. When it comes to project management, Trello and Asana, two web-based tools, top the list for many.

Even social platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp can act as communication tools and are popular with some companies. The main aspect is to find solutions that work across the team, so everyone is happy to use them.

2. It’s Good to Talk

A crucial aspect of a successful remote startup is communication. There should be a centralized system in place where staff talk to each other. For some that consists of using emails, but the back and forth, along with multiple recipients, can make following trails confusing.

Some companies – especially tech-based ones – create their own internal communications systems for staff to communicate. For others, this is where free message software like Slack shows its worth.

Being remote can lend itself to going long hours without any interaction with peers. At the start of each day, we make sure each member of the company lists three objectives they’re working on for the day. They don’t have to be significant tasks, but it’s a way for everyone to feel included and keep up to date with assignments people are working on.

“Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh

3. A Leap of Faith

Finding the right people to work remotely affords a greater opportunity to cherry pick the best talent from all over the world. The interviewing process should take place with an element of caution, however.

Building an understanding with job prospects is harder through video and phone calls. Applicants might have a great resume, but that is only one part of the process. Remote workers need to be competent self-starters.

Be even more thorough than usual when interviewing. Make sure every detail is covered, and no stones are left unturned. Explore the idea of having several video calls with the same candidate before making a final decision.

It’s impossible to be 100 percent sure about a hire even when interviews take place face to face. Nonetheless, remote interviews require a more rigorous process. If something doesn’t feel right, go with your instinct.

Putting more effort into the hiring process has better long-term effects. When you find remote staff that fit the bill, they will take up less of your time. Trust is vital. Once you have it, you can depend on them to use their own initiative.

4. Time Zone Tribulations

While having access to the best staff members from around the world is a bonus, time differences can be problematic. How much of an issue they cause comes down to the type of work your company does and where you are based.

For example, if you are in the US, hiring someone from Australia – where there can be a 16-hour time difference – might not be a good idea. Unless it’s a specific role where regular communication isn’t necessary.

Navigating such a substantial difference in time zones certainly isn’t impossible. But you should weigh up the quality of the candidate in comparison to how much live interaction there will be with them.

5. Let’s Get Physical

While there are many benefits of working remotely, it’s still good practice to get the whole team together at least once a year. An annual meet up (Workation) to talk about strategy and moving forward can re-energize the whole team.

Everybody has the chance to meet in person at least once, which is good for relationship building. Most companies conduct some form of team bonding, and this is a good way to get people together even with remote working as your core structure.

Of course, there are factors to take into consideration, like budgets and logistics. However, bringing the team together at least once a year can help add a new dynamic to the company.

6. Have the Options

Ok, so this isn’t imperative to running a remote startup, but sometimes it’s nice to divide your time between remote structures and an office environment. That doesn’t mean you have to take the plunge and hire a full-time office.

Startup platforms like TechHub have popped up across the globe to offer entrepreneurs a chance to work out of an office at reduced costs. There are usually several options available, including flexi deals that allow you to work out of their bases for a set amount of hours.

The working environments are shared with other like-minded CEOs and business owners. The chances for networking are high, and the atmosphere is a positive one to dip into if remote working is getting a little bit, well, remote.

“Effective networking isn’t a result of luck – it requires hard work and persistence.” – Lewis Howes

7. Setting Yourself Up for Success

Starting a business presents its fair share of obstacles — and creating a remote startup is no different. Working away from an office still isn’t considered ‘the norm’. But as technology continues to improve, the number of people employed from a location other than an office is likely to rise.

Having a process in place is vital to running a remote business. Work out the structures, set strategies for yourself and your staff, and have a viable way of communicating. Do those things, and it shouldn’t be too long before your remote setup is running smoothly.

Have you ever wanted to work remotely from around the world? If so, what would you do and from where would you work?

Looking for Startup Success? The Best Advice From 5 Successful Startup Founders

Being a startup founder is hard, don’t make it any harder on yourself. You can learn from those who already have a successful startup and follow in their footsteps. Why fail when you can learn from someone else who has already failed? There are numerous startups that fail each year and I don’t want to see yours become another statistic.

The founders mentioned in this article are tried and tested. They have built their own successful startups each in unique ways. There’s never going to be one set way in which you can start your company.

Each founder has a different piece of advice to give you on how they achieved success. If you follow even one of the tips mentioned below, you’re giving your startup a greater chance to succeed.

Here is the best piece of advice from 5 different startup founders:

1. Effort is the ultimate equalizer

Dominic Pratt is the founder of eMINDSCLUB, a startup that’s hoping to pair you with the next Mark Zuckerberg by connecting you with entrepreneurs all around the world. Dominic learned that as a startup founder and in life – effort is the ultimate equalizer. He went on to say that society is idea rich and effort poor. Too many of us want the success but aren’t putting in the required grind to get it. It can be challenging he admits, but at the end of the day what is the alternative?

It can be lonely as an entrepreneur because so few of us get it and there has never really been a support group in place for entrepreneurs. Our friends and family want us to conform to their realities, but reality is a matter of perspective. He reminds us that it doesn’t make you a bad person for wanting more for yourself.

As an entrepreneur, you will feel resentment from your friends and family. Don’t allow this to get to you. At the end of the day, you only have yourself, do what makes you happy and what will allow you to succeed. Never take advice someone you wouldn’t be willing to trade places with.

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

2. Become comfortable with the unkown

Aaron O’Hearn is co-founder of the Startup Institute, a startup that offers courses, and programs that help give people skills, the mindset, and the opportunity to network and build a career they love.

The best piece of advice Aaron could give is to become comfortable with unknown. As an entrepreneur, study all you want but you need to put yourself out there. You can learn from the past but you also need to learn from applying what you’ve learned. The worst thing you can do is attain knowledge and let it go to waste.

You can let the unknown hold you back entirely. Don’t let this be you. Almost everyone who has become successful had to start from somewhere. They were just like us but the difference between them and you is that they took action despite being uncomfortable.

The problem is if you become too comfortable, you’ll think you have it made and lose your edge. Learn to become comfortable with unknown and always be willing to push yourself past your fears.

3. Place a financial wager on yourself

Nathan Chan is the founder of Foundr, a startup that has a highly regarded magazine and app that teaches entrepreneurs how to grow and build their business.

The best of advice Nathan could give a startup founder would be to place a financial wager on yourself. What he means by this is when he first started his company, it required a software that he put on his card for $2,000. This was neither money he had or money he could spend. It put his back against the wall. He had no other option than to succeed.

Depending on the entrepreneur you are, go all in. There are different periods when you can do just that. If you’re twenty-three, then by all means go all in but if you’re forty-five with a family, I’d recommend putting money in your business that forces you to become uncomfortable without putting your entire retirement fund in.

As an entrepreneur, you should thrive when your back is against the wall. Stress can be good when it forces you to put in work for your business. What can you do today that will put your back against a wall and force you to put work into your business?

4. Remember, you’re the one calling the shots

Brent Grima is the founder of EverTrue, a startup that works with schools and colleges to help automate their fundraising efforts. The advice Brent gave was to remember that it’s your company and at the end of the day, you’re the one calling the shots. You can speak to mentors and trusted advisers, but if it feels wrong in your gut, then don’t do it. No one is forcing you to make a decision you don’t want to make.

Sometimes when you’re trying to start a company, you take advice from others but often that advice can become conflicting. People will tell you different price points for your service or different ways to market your service. There’s not enough time to try every single price point or marketing service, pick the price or strategy you believe will give your business the greatest chance to succeed. This is your company, make the decision that best suits you.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs

5. Hire remote employees

Sam Bruce is the co-founder at Much Better Adventures, a startup that helps you book adventurous vacations. When Sam was building his company, he realized the importance of hiring remote employees. You no longer need an office space to connect with your employees. If your employee is full-time, you can do a Skype call with them once per week to make sure they’re doing their work.

When you hire remote employees, you may save money rather than if you had an employee coming into an office. With the money you have save by hiring remote, you can reinvest back into your company. Embrace the nature that you can hire anyone from around the world to work on your company.

Being a startup founder isn’t easy. Don’t make it harder on yourself by not following the above advice.

Share with us below, what advice you would give to someone looking to get into the startup world!

3 Reasons Why It’s a Good Thing Your First Startup Failed

Statistics on business failure are a matter of heated debate. Back in 2014, a study in The Washington Post rubbished the oft-repeated claim that “nine out of ten businesses fail,” saying that it had “no statistical basis.” Even so, a more accurate figure from The Small Business Administration still points to only around half of businesses lasting beyond five years.

As such, there’s still a 50/50 chance that your first startup will fail. If this has happened to you, it’s unlikely to have been a pleasant experience. But does that mean that every bit of the time, money and effort was wasted? Absolutely not. In fact, the value of failing has been discussed on this site before.

As Henry Ford said, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” One thing you can be sure of is that in the wake of a failed start-up, you’ll have a heap of lessons to learn from. Every one of them represents an opportunity to do things better or differently next time and increase the chance of your next business being the one that truly goes the distance.

Here are three big reasons why the failure of your first start-up could prove to have been a blessing:

1. You know which tasks not to expend time and money on

It’s pretty much impossible to get a business off the ground without making some mistakes, especially when it comes to putting time and effort into ideas and activities that don’t move the company forward.

However, it’s easy to forget and write off, for example, a futile Google Ads campaign or a pointless dalliance with Instagram if the business goes on to be a success. However, if the company fails, then these drains on time and money suddenly come into far sharper focus.

This being the case, the chances are you’ll have quite a sizeable “never again” list, even if it’s only stored in your memory. Everything on that list is an opportunity not to make the same mistake again whether it’s a web developer you’ll not be using again or acquired knowledge on which advertising strategies do and don’t work. You have a body of knowledge that’s going to ensure your next venture is leaner, meaner and more focussed.

“You have to work on the business first before it works for you.” – Idowu Koyenikan

2. You know what did go right

Of course (hopefully) you got some stuff right too? This knowledge is equally valuable. One way of looking at it is that your next start-up business can operate like a carefully edited and curated version of the first one.

All the ideas, working practices and promotional avenues that delivered results the first time around are things you can potentially recreate (albeit obviously only where the business similarities are relevant!) What’s more, because you’ve done these things before, they should take you less time the second time around.

There may even be documents, contracts, databases and various other things you can repurpose for your next company. This can result in big savings in both time and money. Just because the business failed doesn’t mean there aren’t considerable resources you still have to show for your initial efforts.

The same applies to the contacts you made and the suppliers and companies you used. That network is still there, and once again it’s now a “curated” network – you know exactly who to work with again, and who to swerve.

3. You’ve learned a valuable lesson in resilience

Gever Tulley is an American writer, TED talk host, and founder of San Francisco’s Brightworks school. He says that “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.”

This is very relevant in start-up businesses. Entrepreneurs who find huge success with their first business actually miss out on a valuable and crucial part of the learning curve, and this can come back to haunt them when there’s an unexpected bump in the road further down the line.

Yes, watching a much-loved business fail can be upsetting and demotivating, but coming out the other side still willing to have another go is undoubtedly a bold and determined move to make. It’s almost inevitable that the process will change you, and will certainly change the way you do things.

But it’s no bad thing to be more sceptical as to the claims companies make when they sell you something, tougher when it comes to price negotiation, or more cynical about the benefits of jumping onto the latest online bandwagon.

The last quote which I shall use to tie this up is from an unknown source, and it says that “the only person you should try to be better than is who you were yesterday.” If you can stick to that rule and use the failure of a business venture to bounce back with humility and determination, it should set you up well for your next attempt.

All the work that went into that “failed” business still has a huge amount of value. So move forward, concentrate on one thing at a time, and you should stand a good chance of success the second time around.

What failed venture are you grateful for in your life? Let us know in the comments below!

3 Powerful Ways to Stay Motivated While Building Your Startup

I hear one particular story being repeated over and over again in the startup world. See if you’ve heard it before. A friend tells me how excited he is about a new business idea. He’s talked to several potential customers who seem really interested, and he’s even contracted folks in the industry to help him build a prototype.

Two months later, I meet with him again. He’s still very excited, working hard at all hours of the day, and he says that they’re actually about to release the prototype. Another 2 or 3 months go by and I check in to ask him how everything is going.

Glumly, he tells me, “Well, we released the prototype to a couple of early adopters, but we didn’t find they were using it on a daily basis.” Or, “We spent like $50 on Facebook ads to spread the word, but nobody signed up.” And on and on it goes.

Just like that, another wantrepreneur’s dreams are crushed. “Maybe this entrepreneurship thing just isn’t for me,” he says. Sound familiar? It happens to all of us. We have that initial burst of excitement and we get super motivated to pursue our business idea, but then when reality hits and things don’t go as planned, we lose that spark and our motivation hits rock bottom.

People don’t realize that building a startup is like a roller coaster – one day you’re on top of the world and the next you’re having the worst day ever. Motivation is like the fuel in your car, when you run out, your company stalls and comes to a complete stop.

People always ask me how I maintain my motivation throughout the ups and downs of startup life. Like any other positive habit, you have to train yourself and you need a few techniques in your back pocket to help you get out of that rut when you (inevitably) fall into it.

Here are a few things that have helped me stay motivated while building my business:

1. Listen to or Read Something Motivational Each Day

This is actually one of my main sources of motivation. Every day, I listen to an entrepreneurship podcast and learn something new.

When you hear an interview with a successful founder, and he says he wakes up every day at 4AM to spend 2 hours writing a chapter of his book before heading into work, it makes you think “Wow! I thought I was working hard!”

I’ll listen to an owner talk about how he lost everything and managed to bring himself back from ruins. That kind of story can motivate anybody to push through the rough times in their own life and business endeavors.

When I hear these types of inspirational interviews during my morning walk, I go home eager to start work for the day!

“Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.” – Ryan Freitas

2. Have a Learning Mindset

No matter how excited you are about your startup idea, remember that it’s a learning experience. A year from now, you may end up developing something totally different based on feedback you get from customers. If your first prototype doesn’t get the traction or results you were hoping for, then learn why that is.

Did it not solve the customer’s pain point? Were you solving the wrong problem? Call up the users and ask them why are they’re not using or buying your product! Brice McBeth in his book ‘Salon Chairs Don’t Sell Themselves’, shares his experience with the launch of an e-commerce website that he was trying to promote.

He found that potential customers were just not signing up, even though his team built a visually stunning website. It wasn’t until after he called several customers that he learned they felt the website looked too fancy for them.

They weren’t signing up because they thought the product was too expensive even though they hadn’t even looked at the pricing page. They based their assumption purely on the landing page. He changed the website and the product took off. So don’t get discouraged if your first launch fails. Go out and ask for feedback and correct your mistakes!

3. Sign Up Real Customers

The biggest motivating factor for me so far has been signing up our startup’s first real customers. Not a friend and not someone I met at a networking event who was doing me a favor. A complete stranger who found us on the web and wanted to sign up because she was interested in the product.

When I talked to this customer on the phone, she had no idea we were a startup in the beta stage. She was an office manager of a landscape and lawn service company who was looking for a time tracking software. Having a “real” customer using our application and depending on us to process payroll was a huge responsibility, but it was also motivation for us because we didn’t want to let a customer down.

I’ve found the wantrepreneurs of the world are a little intimidated by the important step of accumulating real customers. When beta customers sign up, they expect to have some issues with the product or software, but when a real, expectant, interested customer signs up and hands over their hard-earned money, it’s a whole different ball game.

But don’t be intimidated! The key is providing excellent customer service. Then your customers will stay with you even if your product is basic and buggy, because they know you will fix it and take care of them down the road. Trust me, waking up every morning knowing people are depending on you is the biggest motivation of all!

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” – Thomas Edison

Maintaining motivation while you’re working on your startup, especially at the beginning, is like anything else important in your life – you have to work at it! Listen to or read something inspirational every day, maintain the mindset that everything is a learning experience, and take that plunge to find real customers.

Then, use your system to be accountable for your work and provide great service, and you’ll discover the motivation to move forward even in the toughest of times.

How do you stay motivated while building your startup or running your business? Comment below!